Smarter and easier online education with Financial Avenue

Money management can sometimes seem like a foreign language, but you don’t have to be an economist to feel comfortable managing your own finances. With SAC Federal Credit Union’s Financial Avenue education program, you can learn more about a variety of financial topics on your schedule. It’s online, easy to use, and free to the public. Plus it’s a great first step to becoming financially savvy.

Karen Guy, Business and Marketing Analyst for SAC Federal Credit Union, answers a few questions about the program.

How does Financial Avenue work?

Financial Avenue’s everyday money management lessons are targeted toward adults (18 and older) and are completely free of charge. The content is updated regularly and is based on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Literacy and Education Commission’s financial education core competencies.

The program’s courses, mini-modules, articles, videos, and other resources help adults gain lifelong knowledge about the basics of personal money management. Courses only take about 30 minutes to complete, and mini-modules or lessons take about 10 minutes. There are also pre- and post-tests that serve as checkpoints to help guide you through the material.

Financial Avenue’s interactive courses keep you involved to help the lessons stick.

What kinds of topics are covered?

There are a full range of personal money management topics, including budgeting, banking basics, borrowing money, and the importance of saving. You’ll also find lessons on things like understanding insurance paying for college, investing, taxes, tackling debt, and more.

Why should someone sign up for Financial Avenue?

Participants can expect to gain valuable information that they may not have been exposed to in a traditional school environment or encountered yet in life. For example, I’ve worked through the budgeting course and there were several key insights I had never thought about before, and I’ve been working at a financial institution for 10 years!

Courses cover a variety of important topics – from credit cards to taxes.

How does this program work for people’s different schedules and learning styles?

You may not want to sit at a computer for long periods of time, and Financial Avenue allows the flexibility to log in, leave, and resume where you left off. It also offers articles, videos, and calculators that you can use if the courses and modules aren’t your ideal learning tools.

Is there an easy way for people to dig deeper into the topics?

Yes! Financial Avenue provides a resource list that includes links to other sources of information. So if there’s a particular subject you want to learn more about, it’s easy to explore.

How do I get started?

Financial Avenue is open to anyone interested in broadening his or her personal money management knowledge – even if you don’t have a SAC account. Go to the Financial Avenue page, where you’ll find the access code you need to sign up. Just follow the registration screens, and you’ll be ready to dive in! It only takes a few minutes to establish a login, and then you can take advantage of all the tools Financial Avenue has to offer.

Personal money management covers a lot of different topics. Tell us: What lesson interests YOU most?

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